Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

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NEW ORLEANS – Better to be safe than sorry, at least when it comes to this year’s draft.

That’s the approach NFL.com analyst Gil Brandt said he’d take this off-season if he were the Lions trying to return to the playoffs after a disastrous 4-12 season.

“I think you probably have to be safer,” Brandt said today at the Super Bowl. “When a team is really good and you can afford to gamble a little bit then you can take Titus Young. But if you’re a team that’s trying to get better then you better not take Titus Young.”

The Lions have hit on most of their high draft picks during the Martin Mayhew-Jim Schwartz era, finding success with quarterback Matthew Stafford (No. 1 overall in 2009) and defensive tackles Ndamukong Suh (No. 2 in 2010) and Nick Fairley (No. 13 in 2011).

But Brandt, the former long-time vice president of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, said draft picks like Young and Jahvid Best have set the Lions’ rebuilding process back.

In need of a running back to diversify their offense in 2010, the Lions traded up into the first round to draft Best 30th overall even though some teams had him off their draft boards because of concussions.

A year later, the Lions spent a second-round pick on Young, who was suspended for most of a season at Boise State.

Best hasn’t played since October of 2011 and might never see the field again, Young was sent home from the team three times in a seven-month span this season for a variety discipline problems, and the Lions still have needs at running back and receiver.

“It’s easy to second guess, but Titus Young hurt them a lot,” Brandt said. “And then Best, with the concussions, there was some question about him coming in. I think they drafted guys with a lot of potential, but with Best it was a medical thing and the other guy it was always a character thing at Boise State.”

Publicly, the Lions have left the door open for Young to return, though a fresh start appears to be in the best interests of both parties. As for trading Young, Brandt said the receiver has soiled whatever value he had left.

“I think that there’s an old saying, sometimes you take your first loss, it’s your best loss,” Brandt said. “But you’re not going to be able to trade him, no.

“Everybody’s got too many connections now with teams so they call, whether it’s (San Francisco 49ers general manager) Trent Baalke as an example, he knows a couple players on the Lions and they call and say tell me about this guy. And I guess if you put him through the ringer, there wouldn’t be too many people in his favor.”